Premier League

Union boss questions Chelsea

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 11:25:00

Alan Pardew admits he may need to use the January transfer
window to save Newcastle United's faltering season.

Ahead of Sunday's trip to former club Southampton, the Magpies
boss sees his side sat 14th in the Premier League after
back-to-back defeats by West Ham United and Swansea City.

Newcastle, after finishing fifth last season, had ambitious
plans of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in the current
campaign but they have been hampered by squad problems.

Yohan Cabaye is having groin surgery, captain Fabricio Coloccini
is suspended and Ryan Taylor, Dan Gosling and Haris Vuckic are all
injured and the Senegalese Football Association blocked Papiss
Cisse from playing against Swansea.

And Pardew may use the winter transfer window to find
reinforcements, as he said: "If we get to January and we're in a
vulnerable position, where we are now or lower, then we're going to
need to have a little bit more thought about how we're going to go
forward.

"We're talking about West Ham putting a big puncture in our
season. If we'd have won that game, we'd have been in the top
six.

"Then we had massive blows before Swansea with Papiss Cisse
being withdrawn and Yohan Cabaye's injury. I'm not going to get too
down about it at the minute.

"I still believe in this side. I still believe it's a very good
side when I put it out there. But the guys who are in and around
the squad need to step up now and prove they're good enough."

Chelsea's handling of the complaint against Mark Clattenburg
could prove a step backwards in the fight against racism in
football, according to the national secretary of the referees'
union Prospect.

Clattenburg was cleared this week of racially abusing Chelsea
midfielder John Obi Mikel during their 3-2 defeat against
Manchester United last month after experiencing what Prospect boss
Alan Leighton described as "a living hell" since the allegation was
first made.

Chelsea based their complaint on what Brazilian midfielder
Ramires thought he heard, and the club have been criticised for
making the allegation against Clattenburg public from an early
stage. Prospect boss Alan Leighton believes the case could dissuade
players from reporting instances of racial abuse in the future.

He told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme: "We think
this is the wrong way to go about combating racism, and in fact
what Chelsea have done could put people off making legitimate
claims when they have been subjected to racial abuse."

Clattenburg has not officiated since the incident but he will
return to match action today as fourth official between Tottenham
and West Ham while he will be in charge for Southampton v Norwich
on Wednesday.

Leighton said: "It's been terrible for him, he's been through a
living hell. He's had the press camped on his lawn.

"He's had to live with walking down the street and people either
pointing at him or him thinking people are thinking, 'Oh, that's
the racist referee'.

"Everybody always remembers an allegation but not everybody
always remembers the outcome."

Chelsea have so far made no apology to Clattenburg for his
ordeal, and noted in their statement earlier this week that the
Football Association felt the complaint had been made in good
faith.

Leighton believes Clattenburg wants to avoid a legal battle such
a scenario and get on with his job, and he added: "If Chelsea want
to make an apology, pay compensation and get Mark to sign an
agreement saying he won't take legal action, I'm sure we can do
that."

Meanwhile, Leighton hopes it is not too long before Clattenburg
takes charge of another Chelsea game.

"I think if there was too long a delay in refereeing Chelsea
then I think the issue gets dragged out again," he said.

"The key issue for Mark is getting back to refereeing and
getting back to normal, and that means refereeing Chelsea as soon
as he possibly can."

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